A RARE piece of Australian NASCAR history has been unearthed and shared for fans to enjoy here on V8 Sleuth’s YouTube Channel.
The Calder Park round of the Australian Stock Car Championship held in mid-February 1996 was the only time that NASCARs raced on the short Calder ‘flat track’.
A re-scheduled meeting after a rain out the previous weekend, the race event was filmed but, from V8 Sleuth’s understanding, never broadcast on television.
The vision uploaded is the final race of the NASCAR event from that day featuring Jim Richards, Brad Jones, John Faulkner, Kevin Schwantz and more.
It’s from original VHS tapes recorded in Race Control and doesn’t include any commentary or atmosphere sounds, though does include audio transmissions to and from Race Control, giving fans a unique insight into the operation of these races.
Richards went on to win the final race and move into the lead of the series.
While this event was the only time NASCARs raced on the Calder flat track (not counting the V8 Stock Car era as part of The Power Tour), it was not the only time that AUSCARs raced on the layout.
They had run as a support to the Peter Brock Classic in November 1995 and again as support to the Australian Touring Car Championship round at Calder a few months later in 1996.
